Undercover
Serena had always wished for a safer place.
Of course, after meeting Swoo and learning how Eva lived, that desire had faded significantly, but her search for safety remained.
After all, one could never predict what the future held.
Yet, at the same time, she wanted to find the cause of her father's death. No, it would be more accurate to say that this desire had grown even stronger now.
It had been that way ever since she met Swoo.
Back when she worked as a connector and executive for Lui Chen, she had half-given up... but for some reason, she felt certain that if she was with Swoo, she would find it eventually.
For that reason, she had also tried to track down the nameless faction that sought to stand on equal footing with the mega-corporations.
If it was a force capable of swaying the course of the world, finding the cause of her father's death would be child's play for them.
Once she found it... Serena herself didn't know what she would do. If she could join that faction, she would do so in a heartbeat, but there were too many complications.
Of course, Swoo wasn't one of those complications.
Swoo wouldn't stop her. If anything, she would probably find it amusing and ask Serena to join them just to report back on what kind of place it was.
But she didn't think it would be easy.
It was a secretive organization that even the mega-corporation headquarters likely knew nothing about. A group like that wouldn't just accept anyone.
Even so, the moment Serena heard they had found a clue about this faction, she rushed over, putting off both her makeup and her commute.
Whatever the case, it was best to know.
"Tell me the details," Serena said.
"Can't I eat my hamburger first?" Swoo asked.
"Talk while you eat."
"Angela told me not to talk with my mouth full, though."
"What kind of... Since when did you ever listen to Angela?"
"I always listen to Angela."
At Swoo's shameless reply, Angela stared at her with wide eyes.
The puppy she used to raise back in the day listened better than Swoo ever did.
"Right, Angela?"
"...Swoo, lying is bad," Angela said.
"Anyway, I want to finish eating before I talk."
"Sigh..."
Trying to persuade Swoo was about as futile as buying a thousand dollars' worth of lottery tickets every single day. Serena gave up and stood up.
The sofa Salvador had gifted them was incredibly cozy, but rather than wasting time like this, it was better to handle at least one more of her delayed tasks.
"Then I'll go take care of some pending work. Take your time eating."
"Yep. Actually, I suddenly feel like talking while eating."
"You crazy brat."
"Hehe."
"Are you really going to tell me right now?"
"Yeah, so sit down and rest a bit. You look really tired."
"That's just because I didn't put on makeup."
"It's not just your face, it's your whole vibe."
She was indeed tired.
With Eden being so chaotic lately, Serena, as a mega-corp executive, had no choice but to be busy.
On top of that, there were all the antics she got dragged into while running around with Swoo. As those piled up, she had no time to rest. Even her morning, her only break, was spent rushing over here to be tormented by Swoo.
"Want me to make you some coffee?"
"...I'll make it myself."
"I'll bring you the foot bath."
Saying so, Swoo paused unwrapping her hamburger and scurried off to fetch the foot bath.
"What temperature do you want?"
"No..."
Serena couldn't help but hesitate.
She had never used a foot bath that someone else had used.
Of course, she didn't hesitate because she thought it was dirty.
Serena had rummaged through trash cans in the past. And she didn't think the feet of the two people sitting in front of her would be dirty either.
It was just... a bit embarrassing.
What if she dipped her feet in and something embarrassing was revealed? That would be awkward.
"Why would I take a foot bath while you two are eating? No, thank you."
"I don't mind."
"Well, I do."
"Come on, try it. I'll get the water temperature just right."
"I said no."
"Should I take off your shoes and socks for you?"
"No."
"Serena, do you have athlete's foot by any chance?"
"What kind of bullsh—"
Swoo covered her mouth with both hands and widened her eyes. It was an obviously forced expression, but that only made it get under Serena's skin even more.
"Gasp... Then we can't do it. Athlete's foot is contagious."
"You little bastard..."
Serena immediately kicked off her shoes and ripped off her socks.
She thrust her smooth, bare feet right in front of Swoo's face.
"Athlete's foot, my foot! My feet are probably among the cleanest in all of Eden!"
"Oh, did you paint your toenails?"
"No, that's..."
"It's pretty. It suits you."
Serena's toes wiggled shyly. Her face, which had been tense for days, flushed red.
Regardless, Swoo naturally grabbed her feet and placed them into the foot bath.
"There, rest a bit like this."
"...Do whatever you want," Serena mumbled, burying her face in her hands.
She hung her head low.
She had been too embarrassed to wear fingernail polish, so she had only gotten a pedicure where no one could see... She never expected to be caught like this.
Of course, neither Swoo nor Angela seemed to care, but she couldn't help feeling embarrassed anyway.
"Just... pretend you didn't see this."
"Yep. I won't tell anyone that Serena has a cute pedicure."
"...If someone bashes your skull in with a rock in the middle of the night, just assume it was me."
"Yep. I'll make sure to think, 'Ah, Serena with the cute pedicure bashed my head in.'"
"Pfft...!"
Unable to hold it in any longer, Angela burst out laughing.
"You absolute brat..."
Serena felt a genuine urge to commit murder.
It had been a very long time since she felt such a powerful impulse.
"Undercovers... There have definitely been signs of such movement."
After Swoo finished explaining, Serena was convinced it was a highly plausible scenario.
"Is Lui Chen responding immediately?" Swoo asked.
"They took immediate action against specific individuals, but they seem to be letting the insignificant ones leave. Of course, I can't say for sure. Even I don't know every move the headquarters makes."
Changing jobs between mega-corporations was unheard of.
Even low-level employees might have glimpsed the dark underbelly of a mega-corp, so they were never simply let go.
Thus, resigning was no simple matter.
After signing all sorts of non-disclosure agreements, they had to live the rest of their lives under the constant surveillance of the mega-corp.
Retirement was no different.
They might receive severance pay and a pension, but they could never escape the mega-corp's watchful eyes.
Therefore, those who entered a mega-corp never even considered resigning. No one wanted to live a life where they couldn't make money and were constantly watched.
Lately, however, the number of resignations had been rising. And that number had skyrocketed after District 7 of South Peak was half-destroyed.
Of course, not all of them would be undercover agents.
Most were just ordinary employees—average workers who didn't want to get caught in the crossfire of giants. But it was clear that undercover agents were slipping out among them.
"Also, a strange rumor has been circulating within the company. I don't know about the other corporations, but at least Lui Chen has been dealing with it."
"What rumor?"
"A rumor that if a war between the mega-corporations breaks out, the brains of useless, ordinary employees will be the first to be 'utilized.'"
Swoo knew that this wasn't just a rumor. But she didn't say it out loud. It wasn't information the world was ready to know yet.
"That rumor is probably part of the reason why resignations have increased."
"The undercovers must have spread it, right?"
"That's what I'm assuming for now. It's a rumor that has circulated like an urban legend for ages, so in a situation like this, it gains a lot of credibility. They're likely planning to slip away amidst the growing crowd of resigning employees."
"Is it really just a rumor?"
As Swoo asked this, she closely observed Serena's expression, eyes, the shape of her lips, the twitch of her eyebrows, her heartbeat... everything.
"At least, our branch doesn't do such things. We don't even have the capability."
"I see."
Serena wasn't lying.
Only the headquarters possessed that level of technology.
The reason Swoo asked anyway was simply to gather more data on Serena as a person.
Now, Swoo knew exactly how Serena behaved when she was telling the truth.
Through this, she realized that Serena's statement from a while ago—that she would never betray her allies—had also been completely genuine.
A gentle smile played on Swoo's lips.
"Why are you smiling all of a sudden?"
"Because having Serena with the cute pedicure around makes things so much easier. Thanks."
"If you say that bullshit one more time, I will literally choke myself to death."
"Oh."
Not "I'll kill you," but "I'll kill myself."
Since she couldn't defeat her opponent, she would defeat herself?
It was a surprisingly effective way to stop Swoo.
Losing a pretty doll that made funny noises when squeezed—no, a precious ally—would be deeply saddening even for Swoo.
"So, how is the nameless faction related to this?"
"Eric, who came to commission us this time, said he's going to betray Zyrec and leave. And his helper is likely a Lui Chen undercover agent inside Zyrec."
"Hmm, so you're saying a Zyrec undercover agent currently inside Lui Chen has information on the 'nameless' faction?"
"Yep, probably."
"The undercover agent they want to extract... Since we don't know who it is, we can narrow down the search by looking for highly skilled netwatchers. If they're connected to the nameless faction, they're highly likely to be a netwatcher."
"Exactly."
With just a brief explanation of the situation, Serena immediately figured out what she needed to do. However, even Serena had one lingering doubt.
"What do you plan to do once you find them? I doubt you intend to hand them over right away."
Angela, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, was also curious about Serena's question.
Swoo had said this commission was for Angela. A commission that would help her sister in Zyrec. But so far, Angela couldn't see how any of this connected to that.
"I want to hear what they have to say first."
"Do you plan to report the client?"
"I don't betray my side."
She didn't say "no," nor did she mention "Eric." Swoo simply smiled, referring to "my side."
For Swoo, who strictly followed a tit-for-tat strategy, to leave such possibilities open was telling.
Serena nodded, feeling a strange sense of incongruity.
"I'll start looking."
"How long do you think it'll take?"
Checking her watch, Serena answered as she dialed a number.
"Three hours."
It was an answer to Swoo, but at the same time, it was a declaration to the person on the other end of the line.
"I'll give you three hours. Find a Lui Chen netwatcher who matches the conditions I'm about to list."
"Wow."
Exuding charisma while hiding her cute pedicure, Serena was cooler than Swoo had expected.